


Come Whichever, Hell or High Water

by TeamImprov



Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: Bleeding, Day 1, Gen, Near Drowning, Waking up Restrained, Whumptober 2020, gunshot wound
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-04
Updated: 2020-10-04
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:42:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,476
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26803819
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TeamImprov/pseuds/TeamImprov
Summary: Mac wakes up, injured and restrained, under the Santa Monica pier - with high tide rapidly approaching.Whumptober 2020, Day 1: Waking Up Restrained
Comments: 18
Kudos: 58





	Come Whichever, Hell or High Water

Mac’s eyes drifted open because of two, impossible to ignore, reasons. The first was Jack’s unmistakable southern accent calling his name over and over again. The second was the freezing cold water splashing against his boots and dampening his pant legs. 

“Hey, Mac, you with me yet?” Jack asked, his voice taking on the sharp edge of concern and fear it always did when Mac was in trouble. Mac simply nodded but immediately regretted it when his head ignited in sharp stabs of pain. 

“Can you open your eyes for me, pal? Prove you're really here this time.” Mac didn’t want to open his eyes. He could tell that wherever they were it was too bright. Instead, he decided to take stock of their situation using his other senses. 

The first thing he noticed, besides the stabbing headache, was the ground-shaking force of what sounded like a full on concert above them. Then there was the burning sensation in his left shoulder. The water lapping at his feet was cold but there was a wetness running down his torso that felt too hot. He decided to risk a glance and had to wait a few seconds for his vision to even out. His long sleeve shirt was dark blue but there was a much darker patch surrounding the painful area. Blood. The outside of his shirt wasn’t saturated too much but he could feel it running down his skin underneath the material. He tried to pull his arms from behind his back but was met with resistance. 

“Yeah, they tied us up pretty good.” Jack informed him. Mac let his eyes track toward Jack’s voice to find the man tied to a wooden pole ten feet away. However, he also noticed that Jack was tied around his chest so he was in a standing position where Mac was tied sitting down. Now he could tell where he was. It looked like they were under the Santa Monica pier. Luckily, the tide was still low enough so it wasn’t all the way at him but he knew that pretty soon it would rise over his head.

“Jack,” Mac whipped his head back to his partner and immediately groaned at the spike of agony that slammed through his skull. 

“I know, man.” Jack said. “This situation is no bueno.”

“That about sums it up.” Mac adds. “How did we get here?” 

“I don’t know,” Jack said. “ Last thing I remember was coming to see if you were okay because you weren’t answering your phone. When I got to your house I found you on the ground, bleeding, and then lights out. Woke up here. What about you?” 

Mac had to think about that one for a minute. What was the last thing he remembered? It was the weekend and he was working on his jeep. He heard someone say his name and then felt the gunshot. Whoever it was, they shot him from behind so the hole in the front of his shoulder must have been from the exit wound. That was good; it meant the bullet wasn’t still inside him. If it was it could have bounced around anywhere. The only problem was that meant he was bleeding from two places instead of one. 

“Someone shot me.” Was Mac’s only answer. He was too nauseous to say much else. 

“I see that,” Jack said. “How are you holding up?”

“Okay,” Mac told him, closing his eyes again, and Jack scoffed. 

“Sure ya are, man, and I’m the Queen of England.” 

Mac’s lips quirked into a semi-smile at that one. 

“Are you going to tell me the truth this time?” Jack asked. 

“Shoulder hurts, it’s still bleeding, and I think I hit my head when I went down. Hurts.”

“See, was that so hard?” Mac could tell Jack was going for lightheartedness but he could hear the increased worry in his voice at the honesty. “That’s not the only problem though, is it?” 

“No,” Mac admitted. “We’re stuck here, no one knows where we are, and we don’t know who took us or why.”

“Yup, those are all pretty bad.” Jack admitted. 

“Not to mention the tide is rising too quickly.” Mac continued. “You’re standing so you’ll last a little longer but when the tide comes in all the way it will reach a height of just over six and a half feet.”

“So we both drown but I have to watch you go first.” Jack said. “And no one will even hear us down here because of that stupid concert.” 

“Exactly.” Mac said. 

“That’s not gonna happen, man.” Jack said firmly. “Use that big brain of yours to find a way out of here. No way in hell I’m watching you die like this.” 

Mac nodded once and closed his eyes again. Now the waves were coming up high enough to reach his hips. He shivered hard but tried to ignore everything. That was his thing. When the going got tough, he was MacGyver, he could find a solution to any problem. 

“Who do you think it was?” Jack asked. “Murdoc? Or the Collective?” 

“No, if it was Murdoc he would be here.” Mac said, his brain still whirring to find a solution. The blood loss and concussion were not helping anything. 

“Yeah, ol’ Murdoc wouldn’t miss a chance to drive us up the freaking wall. Anything yet?” 

“No, I’m sorry, Jack.” Mac sighed, frustrated at his inability to focus. What good was he if he couldn’t think?

“Hey, you didn’t shoot yourself, knock us out, and tie us under here.”

“I know but we’re going to die and I don’t know how to save us.” 

“Hey, Mac, listen to me.” Jack said, stern yet comforting, and Mac’s eyes met his. “It’s not always up to you to save us, okay. We’re partners. That means we save each other. You’re not at one hundred percent right now, I know that, and I’m not expecting you to pull out a miracle. Maybe you can let me save the day this time, huh, you can get the next one.” 

“Sounds good,” Mac said, his eyes blinking sluggishly. He was shivering harder now. The water over his waist. 

“Hey, hey, you keep those eyes open. You hear me? How’re you doing? It looks like you’re still bleeding.”

“Yeah, uh, I think the cold is’making it slow.” 

“That's good, man, really good.” Jack said. “Now just make sure to stay awake, right?” 

Mac wanted to respond but he was so tired. It wasn’t that bad there. It wouldn’t be the worst place he had ever taken a nap. 

“Nope,” he heard Jack yelling. “Mac, stay with me, now. Mac!” 

“What?” Mac asked. All he wanted to do was sleep. 

“Stay awake.” Jack insisted. “I think I have a way out but you gotta keep talking, man. If it wasn’t Murdoc, who was it? Who would want to do something like this to you?” 

“Um,” Mac paused, his mind running through every enemy they had made. It didn’t make sense. Then, it occurred to him. He shook his head to clear it. “I don’t think they are doing it to me.”

“What do you mean?” Jack asked. “You’re about to be fish soup, brother.” 

“No, no, think about it.” Mac said. “They tied me sitting down and you standing up - why?” 

“Someone’s got a serious grudge.” Jack said and Mac could see the moment the light bulb went off over his partner’s head. “Against me. They hate me enough to not just kill me outright but to make it slow. They took you, too, hurt you and then put you in a position where you’ll die first so I’ll have to watch.” 

“Yeah,” Mac said. The water was at his chest now. 

“Bastards,” Jack hissed. 

“Yeah.” Mac said again. “So who is it?” 

Jack stayed silent for a minute, running his own tally of people who would hate him enough to do this. It was a longer list than Mac's. 

“Billy Morales.” Jack finally said. “I knew that sonofabitch wasn’t done with me.” 

“Who’s that?” Mac asked. “Delta or CIA days?” 

“CIA,” Jack said. “I was his protection detail. Matty, too. He was a bad dude. Had a rap sheet the length of my arm but he was willing to flip. He wandered out of my sight one day, got nabbed by his old pals, and was tortured - waterboarding. Took me almost a week to find him.”

“It doesn’t sound like he gave you a warm welcome when you got him back.” Mac said, the waves were past his shoulder wound now. The cold cut down on the pain and stopped the bleeding significantly so Mac was almost grateful. Except for the fact that it meant his time was running out. 

“Nah, as soon as we got him out he came at me. Punched me hard enough to fracture my eye socket. Said he’d get me back but even with the flip he was going away for a long time. Guess he got out early.” 

“Guess he found you,” Mac said. 

“Yeah, and you, too.” Jack said. “I’m gonna kill him when we get out of here. It’s one thing to go after me but you? No way, brother. That crossed a line. You had nothing to do with that.” 

“Wait, but you said Matty did.” Mac said, his heart rate skyrocketing. If they didn’t get out did that mean the rest of the team was in danger? Would he stop with simply seeking revenge on Jack or would he go after his other CIA handler, as well. How much blame did he put on Matty’s shoulders? 

“Damn it,” Jack said, catching the same train of thought. Then swore even louder. 

“What’s wrong?” Mac asked. The water was at his neck. He couldn’t feel most of his body anymore. He could feel himself flagging again. With how weak he felt maybe he wouldn’t have to drown for too long before he died? The thought wasn’t that much of a comfort but it did provide some relief. 

“The pole he tied me to, it has a sign on the back.” Jack told him. “I didn’t know what else to do so I’ve been trying to use it to saw through the ropes but it’s not working fast enough.” 

“Jack, it’s okay.” Mac said. “Keep going.” 

“But I’m not gonna get it in time to save you.” Jack sounded so heartbroken but the water was at his chin, now. There was nowhere for him to go. It was only a matter of time. 

“Maybe,” Mac said. “But you can still save Matty, Riley, Bozer, and anyone else he might come after.” 

“No, Mac, I can’t watch you-” 

“Jack,” Mac said, the water inching up his face. He took in a few deep breaths and then it was covering his mouth. He could still breath from his nose but that would only work for the next few seconds. 

“Mac!” Jack yelled but was interrupted by the sound of a boat engine. 

“Anyone order a pizza?” Riley yelled from the driver's seat. Matty and Bozer were there, too. Mac felt the water run over his nose but watched as Riley and Bozer jumped out of the boat and splashed over to him. 

“Get him free,” Jack yelled. "Right now!" 

“We will,” Riley said. 

“Hold on, Mac.” Bozer said, lifting him up as much as he could. The leeway gave Mac a second to breathe in through his nose before the water rose above it once more. 

“Riley, hurry up!” Jack yelled again. The water was sneaking up to Mac’s eyes. Pretty soon he’d be completely underwater. What would this do to the team, his family? He didn’t want to die in from to them even more than he didn't want to die alone. 

He felt himself struggling as the water went over his eyes. He could hear the vibrations of their yelling, could feel Riley sawing away at the ropes, but it wasn’t happening fast enough. 

Just as his lungs felt like they were going to explode, his hands came free, and he was being pulled up. Mac breathed too soon and it was only water. He was gagging on it, choking and coughing, as his lungs fought to get it back up. Bozer slapped him hard in the middle of the back which helped and he could immediately breathe a lot easier. 

“Watch his shoulder,” Jack said.

“I got him, Jack.” Bozer said. Riley was wading towards Jack and immediately began sawing at his ropes. Bozer swung Mac’s good arm around his shoulder and all but carried him to the boat. Matty helped pull him up and then Mac found himself lying on the deck with Bozer’s hands pressed firmly on his wound. 

He felt himself drifting again. Bozer and Matty were talking to him but he couldn’t hear them. It felt like he was still underwater. Then, he felt a familiar, calloused hand take his and he forced his eyes open. 

Jack was sitting next to him, shivering and soaking wet, but freed. They were moving, the underside of the pier replaced with clear blue skies. The sound of the concert faded in the background. 

“We’re getting you home, bud.” Jack promised him. Mac nodded and focused on the sky above him. 

“How’d you find us?” Jack asked. 

“Morales,” Matty said. “He called, said he left my payback in the water where it belonged."

"We heard the concert in the back ground, narrowed down where it would be, and Riley hacked the security cameras." Bozer said. 

"We saw him tie you guys up down here, put two and two together, and figured out what his plan was.” Riley finished. 

“He set it up like his own kidnapping. Mac was in his role, tied up and drowning, and you were meant to watch it happen like you were meant to watch him. He saw his capture as you failing to do that so he wanted to make it hurt this time.” Matty continued, looking down at Mac sadly. She gently brushed a wet strand of hair of his forehead and smiled when Mac leaned into the comforting touch.

“Why didn’t he come after you, too?” Jack asked. 

“I was your overwatch on that mission, Jack.” Matty said. “So he wanted me to watch all of it.” 

“But you guys were faster.” Jack said, smiling and squeezing Mac’s hand. Mac squeezed back as hard as he could. 

“He didn’t account for one thing.” Matty said. “Something we have that he didn’t.”

“What’s that?” 

“We’re a family,” Mac said before the blue sky faded away and the last thing he felt before the darkness took over was Jack’s hand squeezing his. 

Family didn’t just sit back and watch. They would find Morales, but not today.

The End.


End file.
